Solar energy offers the promise of a clean source of energy. To tap that source of energy, an approach, here called solar thermal, uses the sun's energy to heat a substance, typically a fluid, and then mechanically converts that heat into power. However, it is often desirable to be able to capture the sun's energy while the sun is available, store some of the captured energy, and then perform the conversion into power at a later time. To that end, some systems contemplate the use of cumbersome and costly storage mechanisms such as molten salt. The molten salt retains the thermal energy produced when sunlight is available, making the stored thermal energy available for conversion to work when there is insufficient sunlight to generate electricity (e.g., on a cloudy day or at night).